The White Spaces Coalition’s plans for fast wireless broadband

The FCC is currently testing a device that could lead to wireless broadband …

Fast broadband without fiber... or even wires

White space. For some, the term might conjure up memories of art classes or visions of bad page layout. For a group of technology companies, it has a whole different meaning, one that could radically alter the broadband landscape in the US within a couple of years.

The White Spaces Coalition (WSC) is a group of companies devoted to making use of white space in the analog television spectrum to offer wireless broadband. It's an impressive lineup: Microsoft, Google, Dell, HP, Intel, Philips, Earthlink, and Samsung are the group's public members; there are also a couple of Coalition members who prefer to remain unknown. The group was in the news recently when it presented a device built by Microsoft to the FCC for testing.

The Coalition is making some strong claims, one of which should catch the eye of broadband lovers everywhere: download speeds of up to 80Mbps to our homes. All of this will happen by using the white spaces in the analog TV spectrum.

Location, location, location

Analog TV spectrum is prime real estate, the wireless equivalent of Hawaiian beachfront property and a Park Avenue brownstone in New York all rolled into a single package. The reason is simple: signals in the analog TV spectrum travel very well and can easily be received indoors.

Until their demise in February 2009, analog TV broadcasts will continue to use its allocated spectrum between 54MHz and 698MHz, which covers channels 2 through 51 (television is getting kicked out of the space above 700MHz). After the transition, that range will be used for digital television. But not all of that spectrum is used in any given city. The White Space Coalition hopes to take advantage of that by using the "white spaces" between channels for wireless broadband. In the case of Denver, that would mean channels 10 and 11, which fall between the NBC and PBS affiliates or, better yet, the yawning chasm between channels 20 and 31.

The biggest issue with using the spectrum is interference with TV signals. Scott Harris, Managing Partner of Washington DC law firm Harris, Wiltshire & Grannis, which is representing the White Spaces Coalition , says that the group has the problem solved. "There's a technology that, if appropriately approved by the FCC, can solve the problem by figuring out what part of the spectrum broadcasters are and are not using," Harris told Ars Technica.

Smaller markets and rural areas with just four or five TV channels available will have wide-open stretches of unused spectrum available. Space will be tighter in large cities with numerous channels—the Chicago market has 13 different TV stations—but the WSC is confident that its technology will still work there.

The Federal Communications Commission has been pondering what to do with the white spaces since 2003. Under its current schedule, final rules governing usage of the white space are due in October 2007, although that schedule could slip. A recent bill introduced by Rep. Jay Inslee (D-WA), the Wireless Innovation Act of 2007, would force the FCC to stick to that schedule come hell or high water, much to the Coalition's delight. "We strongly support the Inslee bill," said Harris.

A growing coalition

The White Spaces Coalition began to come together in the fall of 2006, when engineers from some of the member companies began talking to one another. "It arose out of the confluence of independent interests," Harris explained.

Those independent interests make for some strange bedfellows, however. Google and Microsoft have put their fierce rivalry aside to cooperate on the initiative, as have HP and Dell. Samsung and Philips make consumer electronics, including TVs, while we all know what Intel does for a living. All eight companies have one thing in common: the fact that they stand to benefit if broadband becomes cheaper and more widely available.

Harris believes that having television manufacturers involved is important. What about the television broadcasters? "They've been relentlessly hostile," admitted Harris. "But when the FCC's testing is done, we think their opposition to the device will at least lessen."

"Relentlessly hostile" is something of an understatement. Broadcasters don't like the idea of sharing their spectrum with anyone, period. One industry group, called the Association for Maximum Service Television, has a rather garish-looking web site chock full of studies claiming that white space devices will cause problems for programmers. "Developing technical solutions to unlicensed devices using the TV spectrum without causing interference is a complex problem that needs to be addressed by solid technical analysis backed by field tests, studies, and data," reads one report. "[U]nlicensed device proponents have supplied none."

"We're absolutely certain it won't interfere with television," counters Edmond Thomas, former Chief Engineer at the FCC and currently the Policy Advisor and a partner at Harris, Wiltshire & Grannis. "There was a lot of background work before we submitted it to the FCC." And if the FCC doesn't agree with the White Spaces Coalition after testing, there won't be any devices for broadcasters to worry about.